13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Matthew 14: 13-21
Are you trying to serve others, but you feel like you are running out of food? Let’s look at Cowboy Stadium and the feeding of the 5,000.
Visiting Cowboy Stadium
I remember taking a behind-the-scenes tour of Cowboy Stadium when it was first built. ( The name was changed to AT & T Stadium about 4 years later.) The kids and I were overwhelmed by the immensity of it.
Feeding the 5,000
I thought of that stadium this morning when my professor, Dr. Mark Bailey, talked about the feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew 14: 13-21. He told us to imagine such a stadium filled with 20,000 people. (The 5,000 counted were probably only the men, not the women, children or servants that were with them.) Then, he asked us to picture one concession stand open with Jesus behind the counter. He breaks the bread and gives it to the 12 to distribute to the 20,000. Next he imagines the disciples taking multiple trips back to the concession stand to refill the baskets. He laughed as he wondered how many trips it would take. Now I don’t know if the disciples made multiple trips back to Jesus, or if each disciple passed the basket into a section and the bread multiplied as it was passed. The text does not say. But his point is valid.
Get your food from Jesus
The disciples were only able to serve what they got from Jesus. He was the source of the provision. Am I serving what I receive from Jesus or am I spending hours in the kitchen trying to make all of the food myself? Do I hoard the food, worried I don’t have enough? Those are some of the questions I am pondering this morning.
Application
1. How are you being fed by Jesus?
2. Do you hoard the bread he gives you, or do you distribute what you have, even though it seems like so little?
3. Take time to meditate on Matt 14:13-21. Close your eyes and picture the scene. Who are you in that scene? A disciple? One of the thousands sitting in the grass? What do you smell? What do you taste and feel? What sounds do you hear? Ask God what he wants to understand about this passage.